7/9/2005
AP/Reuters
Baghdad: Iraq urged fellow Arab and Muslim states yesterday not to be "subjected to blackmail" and to send ambassadors to Baghdad in defiance of attacks by Al Qaida insurgents, who killed Egypt's kidnapped envoy and have threatened other diplomats.
"The criminals wanted by this act to terrorise Arab and Islamic countries and deter them from upgrading their diplomatic missions in Iraq," Iraq's Foreign Ministry said.
"Arab and Islamic countries are asked to prove their seriousness in combating terrorism and send their ambassadors to Baghdad so they send the right message to the terrorists."
Police were hunting the killers of Egyptian envoy Iyhab Al Sharif, a day after Cairo confirmed his death at the hands of Al Qaida kidnappers. He had been snatched off a Baghdad street on Saturday.
"Our investigations are continuing," a senior Interior Ministry official said. The militants posted a video showing Al Sharif speaking but not his killing.
The Iraqi government has decried the abduction and killing of Al Sharif, as well as at least two other attacks on senior diplomats in the capital this week, as part of attempts by insurgents to isolate the new, US-backed government.
Pakistan's ambassador left the country after his motorcade was shot up on Tuesday.
The same day, the envoy from Bahrain was shot in the hand as he drove to work.
Iraq had said last week that Egypt was planning to become the first Arab state to have a full-ranking ambassador in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussain in 2003 something Cairo never confirmed.
Opposition figures in Egypt said plans to upgrade Al Sharif's job had led to his death.
Meanwhile, Sa'ad Mohammad Ridha, the head of Iraq's diplomatic mission in Cairo, said that Egypt's foreign ministry informed him late on Thursday that the mission would close temporarily and the staff was being recalled.
An Egyptian official in Cairo also said Egypt would temporarily close its mission here and has recalled its staff although there was no sign yesterday that any of the Egyptians were leaving.
Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba said he hadn't been informed that Egypt intended to recall its diplomats, but urged other countries not to be intimidated.
"If the rest of the diplomatic missions from Europe and the neighbouring countries give in, this means that all the capitals of the world will be subjected to blackmail," Kubba said yesterday.
In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak insisted his country will continue to support Iraq.
"This terrorist act will not deter Egypt from its firm position in support of Iraq and its people," the statement said.
Al Sharif "lost his life at the hands of terrorism that trades in Islam but knows no nation and no religion."
Egypt's UN ambassador asked the UN Security Council on Thursday to urgently address the issue of protecting diplomats in Iraq.